| Longfin Sanddab | |
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Family: |
Bothidae (Left-eyed flounders) |
Genus and Species: |
Citharichthys xanthostigma |
Description: |
The body of the longfin sanddab is oblong and compressed. The head is deep; the eyes are large and on the left side. The mouth is large. The color is uniform dark brown with rust orange or white speckles, and the pectoral fin is black on the eyed side; the blind side is white. The longfin sanddab can best be distinguished from the Pacific sanddab by the length of the pectoral fin on the eyed side. It is always shorter than the head on the Pacific sanddab and longer than the head on the longfin. Sanddabs are always left "handed" and can be distinguished from all other left "handed" flatfish by having a mid-line that is nearly straight for its entire length. |
Range: |
Longfin sanddabs occur from Costa Rica to Monterey, California. These flatfish are usually on sandy, muddy type sea bottoms from 8 to 660 feet. |
Natural History: |
Longfin sanddabs eat a wide variety of food. In addition to such items as small fishes, squid, and octopus, they eat an assortment of eggs, luminescent sea squirts, shrimp, crabs, and marine worms. Females are larger than males and normally mature when 3 years old and about 7.5 inches long. They produce numerous eggs and each fish probably spawns more than once a season. The peak of the spawning season is July, August and September. |
Fishing Information: |
If the depth is correct and the bottom type is right, it is extremely difficult to keep sanddabs off the hook. Sportfishing entails the use of small hooks, usually more than one on each line. A variation from the typical rig involves use of an iron ring or hoop around which are dangled several dozen baited hooks of small size. This contraption is lowered on a stout line to a position just off the bottom and allowed to remain a sufficient period to fill all the hooks. Normally this does not require as much time as is needed to rebait the rig after removing the catch. Small pieces of squid or octopus are best because they are tough and stay on the hook best, but fish works equally well as a bait. |
Other Common Names: |
sanddab, soft flounder, Catalina sanddab. |
Largest Recorded: |
15.75 inches; no weight recorded. |
Habitat: |
Deep Sandy Environment |
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